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All information is drawn from or provided by the venues themselves and every effort is made to ensure it is correct. Please remember to double check opening hours with the venue concerned before making a special visit.

On the historic New Walk, Leicester's original museum has collections spanning the natural and cultural world. A family friendly day-out, displays include Dinosaurs, Egyptians, Geology, The Den, Wild Space and World Arts.

The art galleries showcase Modern and Old Masters, contemporary art and craft exhibitions and permanent galleries of Arts & Crafts and Picasso Ceramics: The Attenborough Collection.

The museum offers a varied events programme, Costa coffee shop with free Wi-Fi access and gift shop including a range of exhibition merchandise and contemporary craft and design. The venue is also available for private hire and licensed for civil marriage and naming ceremonies.

Venue Type:

Museum, Gallery

Opening hours

Monday - Saturday: 10am - 5pmSunday: 11am - 5pm

Admission charges

Admission to the museum is free. Certain events and exhibitions may have a charge.

On the historic New Walk, Leicester's oldest museum has collections spanning the natural and cultural world. A family friendly day-out, displays include Egyptians, Wild Space, World Arts and Leicester’s Fine Art collection.

Changing exhibitions feature works by Modern and Old Masters with Leicester’s German Expressionist collection, one of the most notable outside of Germany.

Collection details

Exhibition details are listed below, you may need to scroll down to see them all.

Exhibition (permanent)

Picasso Ceramics: The Attenborough Collection

18 August 2011 — 31 December 2015 *on now

Following on from the highly successful 2007 exhibition, New Walk Museum & Art Gallery is delighted to present Picasso: The Attenborough Collection, a permanent gallery of selected key works from the collection of Lord and Lady Attenborough.

In 1954 Richard and Sheila Attenborough paid their first visit to the Madoura pottery in Vallauris, where Picasso had been working for several years with Georges and Suzanne Ramié. The Attenboroughs started with modest purchases, leading to a collection numbering some 150 pieces.

All of Picasso’s activity with ceramics centred around the Madoura pottery factory in Vallauris, France. Picasso made plates, jugs and tiles but he also designed new forms combining aspects of painting and sculpture in ceramics. The majority of the collection consists of Editions and Original Impressions; multiple works that Picasso insisted the pottery should produce and sell inexpensively, so that everyone could own a ‘Picasso’.

This intimate permanent exhibition shows a changing display of around forty works selected from the unique collection, curated by renowned Picasso expert, Dr Marilyn McCully.

In 2007, Lord and Lady Attenborough announced that their Picasso ceramics collection would be entrusted to the City of Leicester to commemorate the lives of their daughter, Jane Mary, and their granddaughter, Lucy Elizabeth, who perished together in the Asian Tsunami on 26th December 2004.

Suitable for

Any age

Where

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery

Admission

Free admission

Website

The Dinosaur Gallery: Exploring Lost Worlds

3 September 2011 — 31 December 2015 *on now

The Rutland Dinosaur is back!

The Dinosaur, a Cetiosaurus, is taking centre stage in the new exhibition that will show extinct animals were not ‘prehistoric monsters’ but living and breathing creatures. Discover what life was like millions of years ago and see how the world and the living things on it change constantly over time. Explore lost worlds and find out how dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals lived.

Suitable for all ages, the gallery includes new dinosaur interactives, hands-on activities and cutting edge reconstructions of marine reptiles.

Suitable for

Any age

Family friendly

Where

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery

Website

The Den

31 March 2012 — 31 December 2020 *on now

Come and investigate The Den! The Den is a dedicated space for children aged five and under and their families. Explore exciting new ways to experience museum objects and how they open up opportunities for fun and learning around the museum.

Look, listen, touch, move - in The Den there are no right or wrong answers... the only limit is your imagination!

Suitable for

0-4

5-6

Where

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester

Admission

Free admission

Website

The Arts & Crafts Gallery

19 October 2013 — 31 October 2015 *on now

The Arts & Crafts movement was one of the most important and influential styles of the 20th century. Ernest Gimson, the architect and designer who represents this style in its purest form, was born in Leicester. This gallery celebrates his life and work alongside that of his closest friends and associates. It also shows their continuing legacy through the works of modern makers who are still inspired by his ideas and ideals today.

Suitable for all ages, visitors can explore the harsh realities of living and working in Victorian cities, follow the Arts & Crafts designers in their move to the countryside and understand their principles of good design, good work and good living. The gallery also explores the many ways the Arts & Crafts movement was inspired by nature and take our 'Taste Test' to discover if there really is such a thing as ‘good taste’.

Suitable for

Any age

Admission

Free admission

Website

Leicester At War 1914 - 1915

26 July 2014 — 12 April 2015 *on now

To commemorate the outbreak of the First World War this exhibition will take original artefacts, art works, photographs, documents, diaries and newspapers to tell the story of life in the early years of the war both on the home front as well as the battle front.

Discover how Leicester first reacted to the outbreak of war then how it mobilized and started its local recruitment campaigns. Find out too what life would have been like for the women and children left behind and those who supported the war effort in local factories.

The Royal Leicestershire Regiment Association has secured a grant of £80,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to run the four-year programme of events in conjunction with Leicester Arts & Museums Service.

Suitable for

Admission

Website

Expressionism: The Total Artwork

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery are proud to host the largest collection of German Expressionist artwork in the UK, and with support from Arts Council England have re-displayed the collection.

Our new gallery uses cutting edge museum design to uncover the remarkable story behind our collection. Exploring how and why German and other Expressionist artists revealed their innermost emotions through art, dance, music and drama.

The gallery is accompanied by a new website presenting our collection online for the first time and an exciting events programme and performance space to evoke the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ (the total artwork).